American Family Association Action (AFA Action), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to advancing biblical, family values in society and government by educating and influencing public policy. AFA Action is also the Governmental Affairs Affiliate of American Family Association (AFA).
Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX21) recently introduced a bill to repeal the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (“FACE Act”). The FACE Act was enacted in 1994 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton to protect access to abortion clinics. It has been used by the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice to effectively terrorize peaceful pro-life advocates pleading with women not to sentence their unborn children to death.
We urge you to join us in contacting your representative and asking him or her to sign on to Congressman Roy’s bill.
For example, an FBI Swat Team of about 25 agents raided pro-life advocate Mark Houck’s home in rural Pennsylvania early on the morning of September 23, 2022. They were there to arrest Mark in front of his wife and seven children for an incident that occurred a year earlier and which had been dismissed by local courts. The Department of Justice charged Houck with a felony conspiracy and a misdemeanor violation of FACE and took the case all the way to trial. The jury took less than an hour to find Houck not guilty.
A few weeks later, early on the morning of October 5, 2022, the FBI also raided the home of Paul Vaughn in rural central Tennessee in front of his wife and children. They arrested him at gunpoint too. Like Mark Houck, Paul was charged with a felony conspiracy and a misdemeanor violation of FACE for an incident that occurred a year and a half earlier, involving peaceful pro-lifers praying and singing in a hallway outside an abortion clinic. Paul faces a potential sentence of up to 11 years in prison and a fine of up to $350,000. His trial is set for January, 2024.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, the Biden Administration has pulled out all the stops to punish pro-life advocates under FACE. But it is not the business of the federal government to punish minor crimes, but rather cities or states. As Congressman Roy said in his press release announcing the bill, H.R. 5577, “Our Constitution separates power between the federal government and the states for a reason, and we ignore that safeguard at our own peril.”
TAKE ACTION
We urge you to join us in contacting your representative and asking him or her to sign on to Congressman Roy’s bill (HR 5577) to repeal the FACE Act as an unconstitutional takeover of state police powers, especially since the Supreme Court ruled that abortion is no longer a federally protected right.
AFA Action is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to advancing biblical, family values in society and government by educating and influencing public policy. AFA Action is also the Governmental Affairs Affiliate of American Family Association.